An Eclectic Glossary

To walk through the markets of the islands of Oceania is to enter an unusual but fascinating world of food. Colors are vivid, the shapes are different, the smells fantastic. Your mind is assaulted, teased and your senses seduced by the strangely familiar, the uncommon and the completely bizarre. You find yourself muttering over and over, “What is that? I think I know this one,” or “this reminds me of . . . .” It is a realm where many objects defy Western categorization: fruits are used as vegetables; nuts may be fruits; greens for the table can be leaves or shoots from plants that, themselves, could never—even remotely—be grouped as vegetables.